In an unusually frank warning, the UK’s chief of the general staff, Gen Sir Nicholas Carter, has described Russia as the biggest state-based threat to the UK since the cold war and warned that hostilities could begin a lot sooner than the UK expects. The likelihood of a boots-on-the-ground confrontation is unlikely, but he’s concerned about cyber-attacks and the possibility of Putin pushing against NATO in the Baltic states. He said Russia has used the Syria excursion to test the new weaponry and that the UK was falling behind because of budget cuts, a view which has also been expressed by the US military about the UK. He said the new warfare wouldn’t necessarily involve “something that goes bang” but could involve the exploitation of energy, bribery, corrupt business practices, cyber-attacks, assassinations, fake news, propaganda and military intimidation.
Carter, 11 Feb 1959, Kenya, is a Sun Mercury in Aquarius opposition Uranus; with a tough Pluto square Mars, sextile Neptune and trine Saturn. He looks distinctly unhappy this year and next; and won’t have made himself popular with the PM or with the chancellor, neither of whom are exactly militarily-minded. He serves at the politicians’ pleasure so may find himself out on a limb. Certainly he’s out of sorts with May and Hammond after mid year.
Wars are notoriously tricky to spot even on relationship charts. Both the Russia 1917 and 1991 charts merged with the UK, look edgy this year, perhaps more so in 2019.
NATO looks under extreme pressure from this March onwards for two years, though that could be for various reasons. Again 2019 looks more fraught. The NATO/Russia relationship charts are volatile at the best of times and in a state of great unease and disruption in 2018 to 2021. So anything is possible.
But of course, even Doonsebury cartooned that nearly all the 911 terrorists were Saudi. It’s all about the arms sales and…oil.
Also, making Gen Carter happy, NATO membership support in Sweden has reached 50 per cent of the population. They will apply in a year or two, followed by Finland.
Nice to see someone “born in Kenya” actually being born in Kenya. Good job, Brits!
Will google-up Pilger’s articles, and thank you, Marjorie.
Thank you Shirley for the Pilger article info. Kinda ran that onto my thanks to Marjorie, which made it all a muddle!
Kenyan coffee on my keyboard right now! That said, Karen Blixen wasn’t only someone Oscar worthtly potreyed by Meryl Steep, she was a heck of a writer, too. Living in Kenya.
”He looks distinctly unhappy this year and next; and won’t have made himself popular with the PM or with the chancellor, neither of whom are exactly militarily-minded. He serves at the politicians’ pleasure so may find himself out on a limb. Certainly he’s out of sorts with May and Hammond after mid year.”
Carter is of course highlighting that the Tory ‘austerity cuts’ have decimated the Military and Hammond and May won’t like that, as they are not too keen on the populace being informed by the experts.
However I wouldn’t say that Hammond and May aren’t military minded. Selling arms (and expertise) to despot regimes such as Saudi, who in turn are decimating the Yemen, doesn’t seem to bother them at all and as much as Putin is seen to be a threat to my mind he has identified, and tried to deal with, the greatest threat to us all _ the Wahhabis muslims.
John Pilger has produced some excellent articles on the ‘Russian Threat’. All well worth a read and a real eye-opener. All is not as it seems, as per our politicians and the UK MSM.
Pilger is good – sometimes, but then goes wildly over the top, so not always a gold standard source.
As to the UK MSM (I loathe that acronym) did you catch the BBC’s (central mainstream) 3 part doc series on Saudi Arabia? Raised multiple questions about why the House of Saud has been a best-buddy and been sold gzillions in weaponry. I doubt it would have been shown had it not been for some attempts last year at reform by the present Crown Prince with his attack on clerical-extremism and Royal corruption. Though the jury is still out on him since he seems just as repressive in his own way – internal surveillance of local social media and infiltration with government propaganda has ramped up, and laws passed in which mild protest is classed as terrorism – never mind being reckless vis a vis Yemen etc, all of which the docs pointed out.
None of the global politicians in the past have their hands clean on this one, including the Clintons. OK, diplomacy always involves pragmatism and sometimes the least worst alternative has to be grasped. But still – the 9/11 question has still to be addressed, never mind their involvement in the Bosnia horror.
As to today’s words of cheer from the UK Defence Secretary saying Russia could cripple the UK’s infrastructure via hacking, go read Marc Elsberg’s Blackout. It’s a thriller about the malicious collapse of Europe’s power supply in the novel by anarchist hackers. The effects are chilling. Quite a few of the big players – Russia, China etc have the capability.
But of course, even Doonsebury cartooned that nearly all the 911 terrorists were Saudi. It’s all about the arms sales and…oil.
Sorry, post belongs as a reply to Marjorie, not at the top of the heap.